Chromatographic packing with chemically bonded organic stationary phases

ABSTRACT

A process for making a chromatographic packing having a polymeric stationary phase in which molecules having the formula   WHEREIN R3&#39;&#39; is a hydroxyl, or an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon monovalent radical, and R4 is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, are partially prepolymerized, chemically bonded to a polyvalent metal-containing substrate, the metal having a valence of 3-5, and futher polymerized. The polymeric stationary phase has a repeating unit of the formula   WHEREIN A is -O- or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, and is chemically bonded to the surface of the substrate by an   LINKAGE, WHERE SILICON IS PART OF A REPEATING UNIT.

llit'e States atent n91 Kirkland et al.

[451 Mar. 5, I974 1 CHROMATOGRAPI-IIC PACKING WITH CHEMICALLY BONDED ORGANIC STATIONARY PHASES [75] Inventors: Joseph J. Kirkland; Paul C. Yates,

both of Wilmington, Del.

[73] Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.

22 Filed: Oct. 25, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 300,863

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Scr. No. 39,665, May 22, 1970, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl 210/198 C, 55/386, 210/502,

1 3 252/431 {51] Int. Cl ..L .1. BOld 15/08 [58] Field of Search 252/431; 55/67, 197, 386; 73/231; 210/31 C, 198 C [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS Bossaat 55/386 Primary Examiner-John Adee [57} ABSTRACT A process for making a chromatographic packing having a polymeric stationary phase in which molecules having the formula wherein R is a hydroxyl, or an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon monovalent radical, and R is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, are partially prepolymerized, chemically bonded to a polyvalent metal-containing substrate, the metal having a valence of 3-5, and futher polymerized.

The polymeric stationary phase has a repeating unit of the formula wherein A is -O- or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, and is chemically bonded to the surface of the subst rate by an linkage, where silicon is part of a repeating unit.

26 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] "AR 5 I974 SHEET 6 [1F 6 XE-6O SILICONE 0.72 /0 CHEMICALLY BONDED "NITRILE" I T EMPC.

l6 I4 12 IO 8 TIME MINUTES T. C( CORRECTED) This is a division of U.SL Pat. application Ser. No. 39,665, filed May 22, 1970, 110W US. Pat. N0. 7 3,722,181.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improved chromatographic packings in which organosilanes are chemically bonded to a substrate and polymerized to form a stationary organic phase.

A previous attempt to chemically bond a stationary phase to a substrate involved the esterification of siliceous chromatographic supports with alcohols. How ever, the resulting Si O C linkage was hydrolytically unstable and the product consisted of monomolecular films that only allow adsorptive, but not partition, interactions with the solute.

Further, polymolecular silicones have been reacted to chromatographic supports by employing two series of steps. In the first series, dimethyldichlorosilane or methyltrichlorosilane is bonded to the silica substrate. In the second series, organochlorosilanes are attached to the above methylchlorosilanes. Due to the use of highly reactive chlorosilanes in both series of steps, the extent of reaction in each series is difficult to control, which usually results in films of variable thickness. In addition, the first series of steps places methyl groups on the substrate surface which reduces the effective polarity of the packing. This clearly represents a detriment when polarity is desired. Additionally, the second series of steps does not permit the use of volatile organochlorosilanes, thus restricting the choice of resultant stationary phases. Further, the particular organochlorosilanes that would be required as starting reagents to place certain functional (e.g. amino) groups on the surface would be self-reactive and thus selfdestructive. Lastly, it was necessary, to deactivate the remaining active surface sites before chromatographic use. Deactivation leaves a silicate ester which has sufficient thermal and hydrolytic unstability to cause bleed at the higher temperatures used in gas chromatography.

Chemical bonding of silanes as coupling agents to silica-containing surfaces is known in the prior art where the surface is contacted with an aqueous solution of the coupling agent, and the water removed. The resulting bonded layer lacks porosity, has uncontrollable thickness, and hence, is unsuitable for chromatography, whichmust have both to allow for precise diffusion of the substances'being chromatographed.

Thus it is an object of this invention to provide a chromatographic packing with an organic stationary phase chemically bonded directly to a silica-containing substrate with a bond that is hydrolytically and thermally stable.

It is a further object to provide a process for produc ing such' a packing wherein the thickness and porosity of the resulting chemically-bonded stationary phase are controllable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplished by prepolymerizing hydroxysilane reagents in the presence of a strictly limited quantity of water. ,After prepolymerization, the silane reagent is reacted to the surface of the substrate, and further polymerized to form the chemically-bonded stationary phase. The silane reagent molecules have the general formula wherein R is a hydroxyl or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, and

R is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon. R or R may contain atoms other than carbon and hydrogen. The bonded polymolecular stationary phase has a repeating unit with the formula Si--R4 wherein A is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical. The stationary phase is bonded to the polyvalent metal-containing substrate surface through linkage, where M is the metal and is part of a repeating unit.

By choice of R and (when not a hydroxyl) R the chemically-bonded stationary phase may be produced with a variety of functional groups, resulting in chromatographic packing with widely diverse selectivity. The resulting packings may vary from extremely polar to non-polar according to the needs of the particular separation to be performed.

The thickness of the resulting stationary phase is controlled by controlling the quantities of starting materials. Thus, bonded stationary phase may be deposited that is controllably monomolecularly or polymolecularly thick. In particular, a polymolecular layer of predetermined thi'ckness, which will allow for precise diffusions, may be bonded to the substrate.

Mixtures of the above starting compounds may be reacted to the surface and copolymerized to give blends" for particular purposes. The compositions of these blends are determined by controlling the concentrations of initial reactants.

A particularly useful type of blend is one by which the degree of cross-linking in the bonded and polymerized stationary phase can be controlled. Greater concentrations of starting reagents in which R is a hydroxyl result in higher degrees of cross-linking, which is particularly useful for gas chromatography (hereinafter referred to as G.C.). On the other hand, greater concentrations of compounds with R being nonhydroxyl result in less cross-linking which is desired for liquid chromatography (hereinafter referred to as L.C.). The extreme degrees of cross-linking are obtained by using either one of these (hydroxyl or nonhydroxyl) alone.

The use in LC. of packings with the chemicallybonded stationary phase eliminates the necessity for precolumns or presaturating the carrier with the stationary phase. Further, high column efiiciencies are maintained because of the homogeneous distribution of the stationary phase on the surface of the supports. This bonded stationary phase provides greater column stability and eliminates many problems associated with the loss of partitioning liquid during the operation of conventional liquid liquid chromatographic columns.

G.C. substrates with the chemically bound liquid stationary phase show very low vapor pressure. Thus column life is extended and the level of noise in the detection system due to stationary phase bleed is minimal. These packings also show very high thermal stability as preferred for G.C.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical representation of a crosssection of a preferred chromatographic support material.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-section of a polymeric stationary phase chemically bonded to a substrate.

FIG. 3 shows the chemical structure of the polymeric stationary phase.

FIG. 4 is a part of the liquid chromatographic separation of sulfonamides using the present invention.

FIG. 5 compares liquid chromatographic I-IETP v. Carrier Velocity Plots of the present invention with the prior art.

FIG. 6 is a plot of the liquid chromatographic separation of thiolhydroxamates using the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plot of the liquid chromatographic separation with a nitrile bonded phase column of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plot showing a programmed temperature gas chromatographic separation in an ether bondedphase of the present invention.

FIG. 9 compares chromatograms showing the selectivity in gas chromatography of the ether" bondedphase' of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plot showing the relative bleed" rate of a nitrile" stationary bonded-phase of the present invention as against a. column of the prior art.

FIG. 11 is a plot of a thermograviometric curve for a chemically-bonded nitrile packing of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plot of gas chromatographic separation of aromatic hydrocarbons with a nitrile bondedphase.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Chromatographic packings may be prepared having chemically-bonded organic stationary phases with a variety of functional groups, resulting in widely diverse chromatographic selectivity. Bonded-phase packings may be prepared for gasand liquid chromatography on a variety of substrates. The composition of the substrate is not critical, except that its surface must be capable of chemically reacting with silanols. Silica containing substrates are preferred, although any polyvalent metal-containing substrate may be used where the valence of the metal is from three through five. Exam- When the substrate is in the form of a support (i.e., particulate), the shape of the particles is not critical. Examples of shapes include rings, polyhedra, saddles, platelets, fibers, hollow tubes, rods, or cylinders. Spherical supports are preferred because of their regular and reproducible packing characteristics and ease and convenience in handling.

The controlled surface porosity, support of FIG. 1 (described in US. Pat. No. 3,505,785 and sold under the trade name Zipaxby E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware) is a preferred embodiment of a support structure. It has an impervious core 11, preferably of glass or other ceramicmaterial and a porous coating 15 made up of sequentially adsorbed monolayers 13 of microparticles. It consists of discrete spherical particles having a large number of superficial shallow pores l2 and no deep pores. It has regular and reproducible packing characteristics, ease and convenience in handling, and desirable characteristics for high-speed, high-efficiency gas and liquid chromatography.

In discussing substrates, the terms surface, surface area, available surface, etc. refer to all surfaces which are accessible from the exterior of the substrate. In FIG. I, for example, the surfaces within the pores 12 would be included in these terms.

It is often desirable for the support or substrate surface to have a high initial population of metal-hydroxy, or preferably -SiOH groups. This is best accomplished by treating the surface with acid or base. The preferred procedure is to heat the support with concentrated nitric or hydrochloric acid on a steam bath for several hours. Excess acid or base should be removed from the surface by thorough washing before the support is dried for reaction with the silane reagents.

The reagents employed to produce the chemicallybonded organic stationary phase are silanols having the formula where R and R are alkoxy, R is alkoxy or R and R is given above.

A list of commercially-available reagents is shown in Table I. Table II gives other reagents which are not presently known to be commercially available. Their structures encompass a variety of configurations. These may be synthesized according to the general techniques contained in Chemistry of the Silicones, by R. G. Rochow, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2nd Ed. 1951.

TABLE I Reagent Formula -glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane H /O C H'rC HCHO:(CH);S1(OOH:)3

B-(3A-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane a y-Mercaptopropyltrirnethoxysilane HS(CH2)3Si( OCHi)1 N-fl-(em!noethyl-y-amlnopropyltrimethoxysilane a b NHZ(CH2)2NH(CH2)3S1(OCH3 5 lN-/i'(nminoethyl)w-amlno-(Q-methyl)propyl]-methyldimethoxysilsne u", HEN(CH2)21INCII'JCI{(CII3)C112- Si(() CH1);-

-Methacry1oxypropyltrimethoxysilaue b CHzCCI-IaCOO(CH2)aSl(OCHa)3 Vinyl-tits(2-methoxyethoxy)-silane a C HaSKOCgPHOCHa):

Dimethyldlethoxysllane (CHmSKO CgHs):

Methyltriethoxysilane .e CHaSi(OCzI-I Phenyltriethoxysilane I! A. CeHsSKO C2H5);

Amyltriethoxysilane C5HUSi(OG2H5)3 Ethyltriethoxysilane CzH5Sl(OC2H5)3 Methyltrimethoxysilane CH Si(OCHa)3 Vinyl-his(acetyhsilane b 3-chloropropyl-trimethoxysilane b N-(N-methoxycarbonylmethyl-fi-ethylamino) -aminopropyltrimethoxysilane BCyanoethyl-triethoxysilane 0 t. CH(CH2):Si(OCH2H5)3 fl-Cyanoethylanethyldiethoxysilane c CH(CHg)gSi-(O 0211 Available from Union Carbide Corporation, 270 Park Avenue, Available from Dow-Corning Corporation Midland, Michigan. New York, N'Y] 10017- Available from General Electric, Silicone Products Department,

A... e. Waterford, New York, 12188.

TAB LE .11

Reagent Formula HzNOC-(CH2)a-Si(O'CiH -(Aminocarbonyl)propyl-triethoxysilane t B-Nitroethyl-triethoxysrlane OzN-C HzCH2-Si (O C2115);

(a, 'y-Dihydroxypropyl)-methyldimeth0xysilane HOCHCH2-CH(OH)Si(OCHa)2 Methylsulfinylmethyl-triethoxysilane CH3 SO ?CHzSi(OCzH5)a Perfluoropropyl-trimethoxysilane F3CCF2CF2Si(OCHa)3 p-Sulfamoylphenyl-methyldimethoxysilane NHzSOz-C5H4Si(OCHi)2 V Ha p-(Methoxycarbonyllphenyltrimethoxysilane CH3OOCCaH4Si(OCHa)3 L-(+)-p-[5methoxycarbonyl)-5-aminopent-l-yl-sulfarnoyl]-phenyltrimethoxysilane l CH;OOCCH(NH;) (CH2)4NHSOzCH4Si(0CHa)a Methylsulfonylmethyl-tiiethoxysilane CHaS0rCH2Si(OCzH5)s A silicate ester, when used as the reagent, must first equivalent to a -fold equivalent excess generally sufbe hydrolyzed to the silanol which then engages in preflees. A very large excess of water inhibits the subsepolymerization, reaction with the substrate surface, quent partial polymerization. The hydrolysis is norand subsequent polymerization. Factors which affect mally run at elevated temperatures (preferably the this hydrolysis include: 50 boiling point of the non-aqueous solvent) for a period 1 high or low pH (bases or acids), of about 30 minutes to several hours.

2 presence of soluble salts of certain metals such as The operation is generally performed longer than recopper, lead, zinc, and iron, and quired for hydrolysis, in order to effect partial polymer- 3 temperature. ization. If necessary for the partial polymerization, the

in general, the silane ester (ex p for aminosilaflefih water content and'pH of the solution may be adjusted, is hydrolyzed under acidic conditions preferably at eleth latter to a value of from 3 through 6 by ammonia, vated temperatures. For the subsequent prepolymeracetic acid, or some other catalyst. ization, the hydrolysis is preferably carried out by re- Partial polymerization of the silanes before reaction fluxi'ng h gent in a non-aqueous solvent containing to the substrate is essential in producing a chemicallyseveral molar excesses of water with an acid catalyst. 6 bo ded t tion hase having the required thickness The solvent in addition to having some solubility for d porosity, I i i i of polymerization may be deterwater should be non-reactive with the reagent water or mined by placing a small amount of the silanetlle (acid or base) catalyst. It Should boil in he range containing solution in water. The appearance of cloudiof about 25 C. to 300 C-, p ly IO ness indicates that the prepolymerization, having pro- Ethel's Such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane have gressed to the point where at least part of the silane reaworked satisfactorily. gent is insoluble in water, is sufficient. Contrariwise,

The amount of water added to the non-aqueous 801- this prepolymerization should not progress so far as to vent for the hydrolysis should be at least one-third of appreciably increase the viscosity of the silanethe equivalent of the silane reagent and need not be containing solution.

more than about a IOU-fold equivalent excess. One The reaction of the prepolymerized silane to the substrate, followed by the final polymerization, is carried out at temperatures from about 50 C. to 350 C., a range of 100-250 C. being preferred. Times required for this step vary from a few minutes to several hours, but usually 1-3 hours is adequate for the preferred temperature range.

Other procedures in which silane ester reagents may be prepolymerized and reacted to the chromatographic substrates include: 1. Preparing an acidic (pH 3 to 5) aqueous solution of the reagent whereby it hydrolyzes to the corresponding silanol compound. A suitable chromatographic substrate is soaked in the solution and excess liquid filtered off. The mixture is first heated to a temperature below 100 C. to initiate polymerization, and then further heated to carry out the reaction to the substrate surface and to complete polymerization to form the polymeric organic phase.

2. The silane ester reagent is deposited on the .chromatographic substrate by evaporation from a suitable volatile solvent. The reagent is then hydrolyzed and prepolymerized by passing moist air or steam through the coated support. The reaction with the surface and polymerization is then carried out by heating.

3. The silicate ester reagent contained in a volatile unreactive solvent such as tetrahydrofuran is hydrolyzed and prepolymerized by adding aqueous hydrochloric acid and refluxing the mixture. The substrate is added to this solution. The volatile organic solvent is then re-.

moved by low temperature vacuum distillation. A large excess of toluene, xylene or other suitable solvent is added to the wet powder and the water-solvent azeotrope is continuously removed until the reaction and polymerization is complete.

4. Chemical means may be used to remove the water which is the driving force in these reactions. The addition of reagents that readily react with water, such as dimethoxypropane, will effect the desired prepolymerization, the reaction to the substrate surface, and the subsequent polymerization.

A final extraction step may be used to remove any silane not bonded to the substrate. The solvents used in this step should have some solubility for the unbonded polymer which insures that the polymer left on the substrate is indeed chemically-bonded thereto.

Mixtures of different types of silane molecules may also be used in the prepolymerization, reaction, and polymerization steps. In this manner, bonded stationary phases having blends of various properties suitable for particular separations may be developed.

A particularly useful type of blend" is the one controlling the extent of cross-linking in the polymerization process. Packings for gas chromatography generally require a highly cross-linked structure, in order for the polymer to have optimum stability at high temperatures. Conversely, packings for liquid chromatography should have a less crosslinked polymeric phase. This lower order of crosslinking permits better penetration of the carrier, with subsequent improved accessibility of the solute into the solvated polymeric structure. The chemically-bonded stationary phases also possess unique chemical and physical properties because of their ability to swell in certain solvents and to form gelatinous, ordered structures which function as selective stationary gel phases.

The extent of the crosslinking reaction is controlled by adding dialkoxysilicates,

to the usual trialkoxysilicate, R-Si (OR) reagents. The addition of dialkoxysilicates to the reaction significantly reduces the crosslinking, since the other group (R) attached to the silicon atom does not engage in the polymerization. The addition of the modifying functional group R" also may impart desirable physical and chemical properties to the bonded phase.

As shown in the examples below, the reaction of the silicate reagents to the substrate surface proceeds very close to quantitatively. Thus, by controlling the initial amounts of reagents, it is possible to determine the thickness of the resulting film of chemically-bonded stationary phase upon the substrate surface. A monolayer film may be produced, for example, where it is desired to effect selective adsorption. However, in the usual partition chromatography, a substrate with a polymolecular layer is utilized.

In the latter case the polymeric stationary phase is basically a three-dimensional porous network of repetitive, functional groups of the silane structure, chemically-bonded to the support surface by an linkage. A schematic cross-section representation of the porous polymer structure is shown in H0. 2 where the substrate is indicated at 20, the chemically-bonded stationary phase at 21, a portion of polymer at 22, and the pores at 23. FIG. 3 gives an exploded schematic representation of the claimed structure of a piece of polymer 22.

This chemically-bonded organic phase should have an average thickness of 30 A to 10,000 A", with 502,000 A being preferred. This preferred range encompasses sufficient thickness to ensure the desired chromatographic interactions without being so large (thick) so as to greatly affect column efficiency as a result of resistance to mass transfer of the solute within the polymeric phase. The bonded stationary phase should have about 20 to 95 percent of its volume consisting of pores, with a range of 35 to percent preferred. The polymer should be sufficiently porous to allow penetration by the carrier phase and the sample components, while having sufficient cross-linking to ensure that the desired mechanical and chemical stability will be obtained.

Usually in chromatography, the substrate is a particulate support. These particles are coated with the stationary phase and packed into columns. In the present invention, this stationary phase is chemically bonded to the support particles, which are then packed into columns in the usual way. However, the present invention is also useful in other forms of chromatography. The stationary phase may be bonded to a substrate of silica gel. Also, where a capillary tube without a particulate support is used for the column, a stationary phase may be bonded directly onto the column wall itself.

The bonded-phase materials are also useful for liquid-partition thin layer chromatography. The procedure is to coat a suitable thin layer adsorbent, such as finely divided (5 to 10 microns) silica gel or diatomaceous earth with one of the bonded polymers. This chromatographically active material sesame in thiii layers on plates in the usual manner. The plates are usually glass and flat, but other materials and shapes may be used. Mixtures of compounds are then spotted on these thin layer plates and developed, using the usual procedures for liquid-adsorption thin layer chromatography. This approach permits the thin layer chromatography of relatively insoluble compounds to be carried out with polar solvents in a liquid liquid partitioning mode. The techniques of liquid-liquid thin layer chromatography are generally difficult, and chromatographic separations of sparingly soluble compounds by the liquid-liquid partition approach is generally impossible without the use of a chemically-bound stationary phase.

In liquid chromatography, use of packings with bonded stationary phases provides additional operational advantages over columns with conventional mechanically-held liquid phases. Peaks may be collected and the constituent readily isolated for further characte rization by simply evaporating the volatile carrier system. This is possible because the sample is not contaminated by a less volatile stationary phase which is usually present in carrier-saturation amounts in a conventional liquid-liquid system. Further, it is practical to recycle the effluent from the detector back into the reservoir for further use, without any treatment, since the carrier need not be equilibrated with a stationary phase.

Packings with chemically-bound stationary phases are ideal for gradient elution and flow-programmed liquid chromatographic separations. The polarity and flowrate of the carrier solvent may be changed stepwise or continuously during a run without degrading the column. Thus, it is possible to chromatograph a sample having components with widely varying partition ratios in a single chromatographic run in a manner that assures that all of the sample constituents are eluted.'

Regeneration of the bonded-phase packing after a gradient elution run is accomplished rapidly.

EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of Ether/Zipax Packing for Liquid Chromatography 25 grams of 40 microns Zipax and 150 ml. of concentrated nitric acid are placed in a 250 ml. beaker and heated on a steam bath for 2 hours with occasional stirring. The resulting support is washed free of acid by repeatedly slurrying with distilled water. The material is then air-dried on a Buchner sintered glass vacuum filter and heated for l'hour at 125 C. in a circulating air oven.

To a 100. ml. round bottom flask is added 25 ml. of fresh reagent grade tetrahydrofuran (Fisher Scientific Co.), 6.65 ml. of a 50 mg./ml. tetrahydrofuran solution of Dow Corning Z-6040 ('y-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane) and 0.75 ml. of 0.01N hydrochloric acid. This mixture is refluxed gently under a condenser for 30 minutes. This hydrolysis mixture is then added to the 25 grams of acid-treated Zipax" from above, contained in a shallow evaporating dish. The volatile solvent is removed while stirring the mixture under a slow stream of nitrogen. The resulting dry powder is then heated for l hour at 125 C. in a circulating air oven. When cooled, the mixture is then transferred to a 500 ml. round bottom flask containing 150 ml. of dioxane. This mixture is refluxed with gentle stirring for 30 minutes. The solvent is decanted from the support and 150 ml. of reagent grade methanol added to the flask. The resulting mixture is refluxed for minutes. The sol- Scanning electron micrographs of this bonded-phase material show no differences when compared with the starting uncoated Zipax," indicating that the silane is reacted with the microparticle surface and that the resulting stationary phase does not obstruct the pores.

The porosity of the polymeric stationary phase itself is evidenced by surface area measurements made on Zipax coated with the following amounts of the ether bonded-phase.

Material Surf. Area, mlg.

Uncoated Zipax" L0 0.38% cther" 0.ll l.l6% ether" 0.l9 l.65% cther" 0.42

The rapid decrease in surface area when Zipax" is coated with a small amount of polymer indicates that initially, the polymer reacts in the pores between the microparticles. The surface area then rises as the amount of polymer bonded to the support increases clearly showing that the bonded stationary phase is indeed porous. Also, the stationary phase is not extracted by boiling organic solvents which would normally have significant solubility for the polymer indicating that the polymer has actually reacted with the Zipax" surface.

An illustrative chromatographic separation using this ether"/Zipax bonded-phase packing is shown in FIG. 4. This mixture of aromatic sulfonamides was separated in about 6.5 minutes with a 1 meter. X 2.1 mm id. column, using a carrier of 5 percent chloroform in hexane at 27 C., a flow of 2.66 cc./min., a column input pressure of 860 psi, and an ultraviolet detector sensitivity of 0.05 absorbance, full-scale. The apparatus employed was described in an article by Joseph .1. Kirkland in Journal of Chromatograph Science 7, 7 (1969).

The ether bonded-phase column used to separate these sulfonamides is unaffected by the chloroform in the carrier. Had this separation been carried out with a conventional system, the polar solvent would have had appreciable solubility for the stationary liquid, necessitating presaturation of the carrier by the stationary phase and a pre-equilibrating column containing packing with the stationary phase. None of these precautions were required with a bonded-phase column.

The ether" bonded-phase column demonstrates stability at high carrier velocities. The column was oper ated at a carrier linear velocity of 20.8 cm./sec. (column input pressure 3,000 psi) with no apparent change in chromatographic properties in succeeding use. Conventional liquid-liquid chromatographic columns are maintained with extreme difficulty because the relatively high shear forces developed at these flow rates cause the loss of the stationary liquid phase from the packing.

The efficiency of the dry-packed ether bondedphase column is nearly equivalent to that of comparable liquid-liquid chromatographic columns made with mechanically-held stationary phases. FIG. 5 shows comparative HETP (height equivalent to a theoretical plate) versus linear carrier velocity plots for two columns made from the same original 325-400 mesh Zipax" supports. One column embodies mechanically-held 1% B,B-oxydipropionitrile as the stationary phase, while the other consists of a 0.94 percent ether" bonded-phase. HETP data for the bondedphase column is slightly higher than that for the conventional liquid-liquid column for two solutes of which acetophenone is essentially unretarded and benzyl alcohol is moderately retained.

After obtaining the original HETP data, the ether bonded-phase column was operated at input pressures up to 5,000 psi and carrier linear velocities up to 40 cm./sec. Even under these very drastic conditions, the column showed little degradation, as evidenced by the especially-marked points 25 in the FIG. 5 plot. Operation of conventional liquid-liquid chromatographic columns at carrier velocities of 40 cm./sec. is very difficult, because of the loss of mechanically-held stationary phase.

The uniqueness of the "ether" bonded-phase for liquid chromatographic separations is further illustrated in FIG. 6. This synthetic mixture of the thiolhydroxamates shown was separated in a 1 meter X 2.1 mm. id column of the 325-400 mesh Zipax" containing 0.94 percent ether bonded-phase, the column being oper-' ated at 27 C., with a carrier of 10 percent chloroform in hexane. These compounds are difficult to separate with conventional liquid-liquid chromatographic systems because of their polyfunctionality and their high polarity. They are strongly retained on most conventional stationary phases, and require a polar carrier to elute them in a resonable time. The solubility of the sta- 5 tionary phase in this rapidly moving polar carrier causes extreme difficulty in maintaining a column of constant performance. No such difficulties are experienced with the ether bonded-phase packing, and carriers having any desired polarity can be used to chromatograph highly polar compounds.

EXAMPLE 2 Preparation of B-CyanoethyP/ZypaXBonded-Phase 25 milliliters of reagent grade dioxane (Special Services, Du Pont Experimental Station), 5.5 ml. of 70 mg./ml. General Electric XC-37ll (B-cyanoethyltriethoxysilane) in dioxane, and 2 ml. of 0. l N hydrochloric acid are combined in a 250 ml. round bottom flask and refluxed for one hour under a condenser. The resulting hydrolyzed mixture is poured onto 25 grams of 400 mesh "Zipax (acid-washed as described above), and the solvent removed while continuously stirring under warm air from a heat gun. The resulting dry powder is heated for one hour at 150 C. in a circulating air oven. The treated material is transferred to a 500 ml. roundbottom flask and refluxed with 200 ml. of absolute methanol for 15 minutes. The slightly cloudy solvent is decanted and the support again refluxed with 200 ml. of fresh absolute methanol for 15 minutes. The clear solvent is decanted and the support again refluxed for 15 minutes with a fresh 200 ml. portion of absolute methanol. The clear solvent is decanted, the treated support air dried on a sintered glass Buchner filter funnel, and then heated in a circulating air oven for 30 minutes at 150 C.

By elemental analysis, the resulting bonded-phase showed 0.230, 0.232 percent carbon, 0.032, 0.034 percent hydrogen, and 0.087, 0.089 percent nitrogen. These data indicate that the packing material contained 0.83 percent silicone polymer (calculated on the structure proposed below), or 90 percent of theoretical. Nitrogen absorption (flow method) showed that the surface area of this material was 0.44 m /g.

An example of the selectivity of the nitrile bondedphase packing for liquid chromatography is shown in FIG. 7. This synthetic mixture of relatively insoluble substituted acetanilides and sulfonamides was separated in about 5 minutes with a high flowrate of 1:1

isopropylchloride-hexane. Use of this very polar carrier in conventional liquid-liquid chromatography is questionable because of its high mutual solubility with most liquid stationary phases. It is noteworthy that this chemically-held nitrile packing selectively retains compounds which can readily hydrogen-bond. Compounds with acidic -Nl-l groups are particularly retarded, and certain substituted phenolics, such as 4- acetamidophenol, are also highly retained.

The a-cyanoacetanilide peak in FIG. 7 has a HETP of 1.89 mm. at a flowrate of 4.35 cc./min., which corresponds to 8.0 theoretical plates/sec. (4.8 effective plates/sec.). When operated at a carrier linear velocity of 1 cm./sec. or less, this column demonstrates HETP of less than 1 mm. for similar solutes.

The efficiency of the bonded-phase liquid chromatographic columns depends on the type and polarity of the carrier used. Columns with nitrile" bonded-phase packing show poor efficiency with hexane as carrier. However, as the polarity of the carrier is increased, so does the efficiency of the column (equal solute partition ratios).

EXAMPLE 3 Preparation of Ester/Zipax Bonded-Phase To a 100 ml. round-bottom flask is added 25 ml. of reagent grade dioxane, 2 ml. of 0.1N hydrochloric acid, and 4 ml. of a 70 mg./ml. solution of Union Carbide Silane A-174 ("y-methacryloxy-propyltrimethoxysilane) in dioxane. The resulting mixture is refluxed gently for 1 hour under a condenser. This hydrolysis mixture is then added to 20 grams of 400 mesh Zipax contained in a shallow evaporating dish, and the solvent removed while gently stirring the mixture under warm air from a heat gun. The resulting mixture is then heated for one hour at 150 C. in a circulating air oven. The treated support is then transferred to a 500 ml. roundbottom flask which contains 200 ml. of absolute methanol. The mixture is refluxed for 15 minutes, the clear solvent decanted, and this extractive technique repeated two more times with fresh 200 ml. portions of absolute methanol. After the third extraction, the ma-- .4 EXAMPLE 4 Preparation of Ether" Bonded-Phase for Gas Chromatography reagent grade dioxane, ml. of 100 mg./ml. Dow Corning Z-6040 ('y-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane) and 5 ml. of 0.1N hydrochloric acid. The mixture is refluxed under a condenser for 1 hour and then added to the 100-140 mesh acid-treated Zipax described above. The volatile solvent is removed from the solution while stirring the mixture under warm air from a heat gun. The resulting material is heated at 150 C. for one hour in a circulating air oven. The support is then placed in a 500 ml. round-bottom flask with 200 ml. of absolute methanol and refluxed with gentle agitation for 15 minutes. The solvent is decanted and the extraction carried out twice more with fresh 200 ml. portions of absolute methanol. The thrice-extracted material is filtered off onto a sintered glass Buchner filter funnel, air-dried and then heated in a circulating air oven at 150 C. for minutes. Elemental analysis of the sample showed 0.50 percent carbon, corresponding to 1.1 percent polymer on the Zipax surface, or 82 percent of theoretical.

Use of the ether bonded-phase packing for a gas chromatographic separation is shown in FIG 8. This separation was carried out on a 1 meter X M; inch o.d., 5 8 inch i.d. glass column, using helium carrier gas flowrate of 50 cc./min. and a flame ionization detector sensitivity of 1 X 10* amp. fullscale, with a Beckman GC-4 gas chromatograph. 0.2 Microliters of the test mixture was injected at an initial column temperature of C., and the temperature of the column was continuously increased at 1.33 C. per minute. The versatility of this column permits the separation of both low boiling compounds (hexane) and very high boiling compounds (di-normal butylphthalate). The bleed of this ether bonded-phase column at high temperatures isminimal, as evidenced by the slight increase in baseline of the chromatogram approaching 300 C. for this uncompensated single column system.

The unique selectivity of the chemically-bonded polymeric ether" packing for gas chromatographic separations is. illustrated in-FIG. 9. The upper curve shows the separation-of a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons and 4-bromobiphenyl on a column of 1.1 percent bonded ether" on Zipax support operated at 275 C. The lower curve is the same mixture chromatographed under identical conditions on a 1.0 percent Carbowax 20M (aliphatic polyether) column, except that the temperature was 200 C. The separation factors were very high for these compounds on the ether bonded-phase column operated at 275 C., compared to those on Carbowax 20M at 200 C. A similar pattern is apparent for the aromatic compound, 4-bromobiphenyl; its retention time on the ether column at 275 C. is 1.4 minutes, as compared to 0.25 min. for the Carbowax 20M-column at the same tempe'ratur'e.

level of bleed.

15 EXAMPLE Preparation of B-Cyanoethyl/Zipax Bonded-Phase for Gas Chromatography To a 100 ml. round-bottom flask is added 25 ml. of 5 reagent grade dioxane, 2 ml. of 0. 1 N hydrochloric acid, and 5.0 ml. of a 70 mg./ml. solution of General Electric XC-3711 (B-cyanoethyltriethoxysilane) in dioxane. This mixture is refluxed under a condenser for 1 hour and is then added to a shallow evaporating dish containing 25 g. of 100-120 mesh acid-treated Zipax. The solvent is removed from the mixture by stirring under a stream of warm air from a heat gun. The mixture is then heated at 150 C. for one hour in a circulating air oven. The resulting material is then extracted three times by refluxing in 300 ml. volumes of absolute methanol as described in earlier examples. Elemental analysis of the final material showed 0.205, 0.205 percent carbon, 0.025, 0.020 percent hydrogen, and

The level of column bleed at 300 C. for the ether and nitrile bonded-phase materials is compared in Table 111 with conventional mechanically-held liquid phases. Zipax was used as the support in all measurements, and all columns were conditioned at 250 C. for 16 hours prior to taking the measurements, except Carbowax 20M, which was conditioned at 200 C. The selectivity of the ether" bonded-phase packing can be roughly compared to the aliphatic polyether, Carbowax 20M. The data in Table III demonstrate the superior thermal stability of both Carbo- Maxi 20M and the ether bonded-phase on Zipax support. A similar comparison is made between the bonded nitrile" material and siliconeXE-60, a polymer containing percent nitrile groupings. The superior thermal stability of the bonded polymer is apparent. An even lower level of column bleed occurs at a lower polymer concentration, as indicated by the data for the 0.12 percent nitrile polymer column.

BLEED' RATES OF GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC COLUMNS Support 100-140 mesh Zipax" 0.076, 0.071 percent nitrogen, indicating 0.72 percent The chemically-bonded nitrile stationary phase ex polymer on the surface of the Zip'ax, or 86 percent hibits very high specific retentions for polar comof theory.

The very high temperature stability of the B-cyanoethyl bonded-phase packing is illustrated in FIG. 10. This figure shows the background current of a flame pounds, compared to similar conventional GC stationary phases; the elution temperatures of polar compounds chromatographed on the nitrile bondedphase packing by programmed temperature gas chroionization detector operated at 1 X 10* amp., full- 40 'matography are large. This characteristic is a function scale, when a inch o.d; X A; inch i.d. glass column of B-cyanoethyl bonded-phase was programmed from 100 to 300 C. On the same plot is the background current obtained under the same conditions (slightly of the high polarity of the polymeric phase, and may be advantageous for carrying out certain selective separations. FIG. 12 shows the separation of a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons carried out on a column containdisplaced upward on the scale to show differences) for ing only 0.12 percent nitrile" bonded-phase on a similar column of 1 percent General Electric XE-60 (25 percent cyanoethyl, methyl silicon polymer), mechanically dispersed on 100-120 mesh Zipax" support. Both of these columns were conditioned at 250 Zipax. 1 f ter s an 1ple injection, the column was held at 25 C. for 1 minute,then programmed at 15 C./min. to 100 C.

The stability of the bonded-phase packings at high C. for 16 hours before this test. While the bonded nitemperatures makes it possible for chromatographic trile" packing shows essentially no bleed" at 275 C., the conventional XE-60 column starts to show significant background at about 225 C. The nitrile column is stable to at least 300 C., while the XE-60 packing separations to be carried out over wide ranges in temperature without changes occurring to the column. With the use of the present invention, it is possible to prepare chromatographic phases of very high polarity cannot be used to this temperature because of the high which at high temperatures demonstrate a stability pre- The thermalstability of the chemically-bonded ni- 1 trile stationary phase is further evidenced by the thermogravimetric plot shown in FIG. 11. These data were obtained on a Du Pont Model 950 Thermogravimetric viously obtained only with nonpolar silicone stationary phases (polydimethylsiloxane, polymethylphenylsiloxane, etc.).

EXAMPLE 6 Ion Exchange Bonded-Phase for Liquid Chromatography 50 milliliters of a 10 percent (by weight) aqueous solution of Union Carbide A-l silane (-y-aminoproly1- triethoxysilane) which has been standing for 2'hours at room temperature is placed in a wide-mouthed jar with 25 grams of acid-treated Zipax", 400 mesh. The sodry nitrogen. About 50 ml. of a percent (by weight) solution of Union Carbide Silane A16 (amyltriethoxlution is then adjusted to about pH 6 with dilute acetic acid. A vacuum (water pump) is repeatedly pulled on the solution to degas the support thoroughly and allow the solution to completely wet the support surface. The mixture is transferred to a sintered glass Buchner filter 5 funnel and the excess solution filtered off. The moist bed is transferred to an evaporating dish and heated at 125 C. for 1 hour in a circulating air oven. The resulting sample is refluxed three times with fresh 200 ml. portions of absolute methanol, each time decanting the solvent after the treatment. The extracted beads are filtered off on a sintered glass Buchner funnel, air-dried,

and then heated in a circulating air oven at 125 C. for 30 minutes.

This weak anion exchange packing can be used to separate a wide variety of acidic compounds, or other .materials which are retained on this basic chromato- EXAMPLE "7' Bonded-Phase for Capillary Gas Chromatography A 100 meter 0.01 inch i.d. glass capillary is cleaned by passing concentrated nitric acid through the tubing while heating over a steam bath. The capillary is then thoroughly washed with distilled water to eliminate all acid, rinsed with reagent grade acetone and dried with ysilane) is passed through the capillary, dry nitrogen connected to the tubing, and the excess solution removed by the pressure of the gas. The flow of dry nitro- What is claimed is:

11. The process of producing an improved chromatographic packing with a chemically-bonded polymolecular organic stationary phase, comprising:

a. contacting the surface of a polyvalent metal containing substrate with a solution of a polymerizable compound in a substantially non-aqueous solvent, said compound having the formula wherein R is a hydroxyl or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, R is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon said solvent being substantially inert to said substrate, at least a portion of said surface containing -OH groups attached to said metal, said metal having a valence of 35. said solution being acidic or basic and containing less water than about 100 times the equivalents of said compound in said solution;

b. heating said compound in said solvent to at least initiate polymerization of said compound; and

c. heating said partially polymerized compound while in said solvent in contact with said surface to chemically bond said compound to the metal of said surface and to further polymerize said compound.

2. The process of producing an improved chromato graphic packing with a chemically-bonded polymolecular stationary phase comprising:

a. heating a solution of a polymerizable compound in (Cumag) trimethoxysilanc gen is continued through the capillary until all of the a substantially non-aqueous solvent, said comexcess solvent has been evaporated, leaving a thin film pound having the formula of A-16 on the interior surface of the glass. A stream 1 of moist air (relative humidity of about 85 percent) is then passed through the capillary until the silane ester is completely hydrolyzed, as evidenced by no more eth- 40 /Si\ anol being evolved .from the tubing. The capillary is H0 H4 then placed in a 1 10 C. oven and a stream of dry nitroen slow! assed throu h the tubin for several hours. a a a g This 5 bondeg 'hase colugmn is articular whereln R 18 a hydroxyl or a monovalent aliphatic f If P t X Xtur of hatic g or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, R is a monovai z s 3 g ns es p lent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, said s l u e w solvent being substantially inert to said substrate, ElQAMELES 8-12 said solution being acidic or basic and containing Given in Table W are a number of bonded-phase less water than about 100 times the equivalents of chromatographic packings prepared by the techniques said polymerizable compound in said solution, and from the reagents shown. Also given are the appliwhereby polymerization of said polymerizable cations for which these systems may be used. compound is at least initiated;

- More rx BLE IV Exam Polymer Application of Permaple Support Reagent by weight phase Packing 8 "Chromosorb" W, -200 mesh phenyltriethoxysilane 5.0 High temperature gas (Johns-Mansville Corp., chromatography diatomaceous earth) 9 Silica Gel, 3744 1. (Davidfl-(3,4-epoxycyc1ohexyl)- 10.0 Adsorption-partition son Chemical Co., Type 62) ethyldimethoxysilane liquid chromatography 10 Stainless Steel Capillary dimethyldiethoxysilane Approx. Capillary gas chromatol/16" o.d., 0.010" i.d. 0.5 p. film graphy l 1 Texlured Glass Beads 3-chloropropyltri 0.75 Partition liquid 44-63 p. (Corning Glass) methoxysilane chromatography 1?. Zipax" (E. l. du Pont L-(+)-p-[5-(methoxy 1.0 Liquid chromatographic de Nemours & Co.) carbonyl)-S-aminopent separation of optically lyl-sulfam0yl)-phenylactive isomers trimethoxysilane 13 Silica Gel, 5-l0a gamma-glycydoxypropyl- 10.0 Liquid partition thin layer chromatography b. contacting the surface of a silica-containing substrate with the solution containing said partially polymerized compound, at least a portion of said surface containing groups; and

c. further heating said solution while in contact with said surface to chemically bond said compound to the silica of said substrate and to further polymerize said compound.

3. The process of producing an improved chromatographic packing with a chemically-bonded polymolecular stationary phase comprising:

a. contacting the surface of a silica-containing substrate with a solution of a polymerizable compound in a solvent, said compound having the formula wherein R is a hydroxyl or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical, R, is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon,

said solvent being substantially inert to said substrate, at least a portion of said surface containing groups, said solution being acidic or basic;

b. removing a major portion of said solvent of said solution while said solution is in contact with said surface to provide a damp surface, said compound being located in the proximity of said surface and at least a portion of said compound contacting said surface;

c. heating said compound while in p oximity to said substrate to a temperature below 106 6., to prepolymerize said compound; and

d. heating said partially polymerized compound while in proximity to said surface to chemically bond said compound to the silica of said substrate and to further polymerize said compound.

4. The process of claim 2 wherein prior to heating said solution of said polymerizable compound, said polymerizable compound is formed by heating a solution of a reagent compound dissolved in said substantially non-aqueous solvent, said reagent compound having the formula n; m it? wherein R, and R are alkoxyl and R is R or alkoxyl said solution containing said reagent compound being acidic or basic and containing a quantity of water which is from one third to about 100 times the equivalents of said reagent compound.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein said non-aqueous solvent is an ether.

6. The process of claim 5 wherein said ether is tetrahydrofuran or dioxane.

7. The process of claim'6 wherein said substrate comprises silica particles or gel.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein prior to heating said solution whereby polymerization of said polymerizable compound is at least initiated, the pH of said solution is adjusted to a value within the range of about 3 to 6.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein acetic acid is added to adjust the pH to within said range.

10. The process of claim 8 wherein R, and R are the same.

11. The process of claim 10 wherein R is the same as R, and R 12. The process of claim 4 wherein R, and R are selected from the group consisting of -OCH -OC H -OC H.,OCH and -OOCCH 13. The process of claim 8 wherein said compound is selected from the group consisting of gammaglycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, beta-(3 ,Z- epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyltrimethoxysilane, gammaaminopropyl triethoxysilane, N-beta- (aminoethylgamma-amino)-propyltrimethoxysilane, gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, methyltriethoxysilane, phenyltriethoxysilane, amyltriethoxysilane, methyltrimethoxysilane, diphenyldiethoxysilane, 3-chloropropyl-trimethoxysilane, beta-cyanoethyltriethoxysilane, and beta-cyanoethyl-methyldiethoxysilane.

14. The process of claim 4 wherein R,, R and R of a first portion of said reagent compound are alkoxyl, and R, and R of a second portion of said reagent compound are alkoxyl and R of said second portion is neither a hydroxyl nor alkoxyl.

15. The process of claim 2 wherein subsequent to said further heating, said R, is further chemically reacted.

16. An improved chromatographic packing comprising a polyvalent metal-containing substrate and a stationary phase, said stationary phase comprising a polymer being sufficiently porous to allow penetration by a carrier fluid and the material contained therein, said polymerhaving the repeating unit of the formula A a Ai R wherein A is -O- or a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical and R is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbonradical, said metal of sa id subsfrae havhfg a valence of 3-5, said stationary phase being chemically bonded to the surface of said substrate by an linkage, wherein M is said polyvalent metal and 21. The packing. of claim wherein A in the first of r said portions is -O-, and A in thhe second of said portions is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical.

22. The packing of claim 16 wherein said substrate comprises silica gel or silica-containing particles.

23. The packing of claim 22 wherein A is -O- and R is Selected from BFLiLHBlQfilLE391E9 5??? glycidoxypropyl, beta-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyl, gamma-aminopropyl, N-beta-(aminoethyl-gammaamin0)pr0pyl, gamma-methacryloxypropyl, methyl,

phenyl, amyl, 3-chloropropyl, and beta-cyanoethyl.

24. The packing of claim 22 wherein A is methyl or phenyl and R is phenyl or beta-cyanoethyl.

25. The packing of claim 16 wherein said stationary phase has an average thickness of about from 50 A to 2,000 A.

26. The packing of claim 16 wherein said polymer comprises 25 to 65 percent of the volume of said stationary phase. 

2. The process of producing an improved chromatographic packing with a chemically-bonded polymolecular stationary phase comprising: a. heating a solution of a polymerizable compound in a substantially non-aqueous solvent, said compound having the formula
 3. The process of producing an improved chromatographic packing with a chemically-bonded polymolecular stationary phase comprising: a. contacting the surface of a silica-containing substrate with a solution of a polymerizable compound in a solvent, said compound having the formula
 4. The process of claim 2 wherein prior to heating said solution of said polymerizable compound, said polymerizable compound is formed by heating a solution of a reagent compound dissolved in said substantially non-aqueous solvent, said reagent compound having the formula
 5. The process of claim 4 wherein said non-aqueous solvent is an ether.
 6. The process of claim 5 wherein said ether is tetrahydrofuran or dioxane.
 7. The process of claim 6 wherein said substrate comprises silica particles or gel.
 8. The process of claim 7 wherein prior to heating said solution whereby polymerization of said polymerizable compound is at least initiated, the pH of said solution is adjusted to a value within the range of about 3 to
 6. 9. The process of claim 8 wherein acEtic acid is added to adjust the pH to within said range.
 10. The process of claim 8 wherein R1 and R2 are the same.
 11. The process of claim 10 wherein R3 is the same as R1 and R2.
 12. The process of claim 4 wherein R1 and R2 are selected from the group consisting of -OCH3, -OC2H5, -OC2H4OCH3, and -OOCCH3.
 13. The process of claim 8 wherein said compound is selected from the group consisting of gamma-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, beta-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyltrimethoxysilane, gamma-aminopropyl triethoxysilane, N-beta-(aminoethylgamma-amino)-propyltrimethoxysilane, gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, methyltriethoxysilane, phenyltriethoxysilane, amyltriethoxysilane, methyltrimethoxysilane, diphenyldiethoxysilane, 3-chloropropyl-trimethoxysilane, beta-cyanoethyltriethoxysilane, and beta-cyanoethyl-methyldiethoxysilane.
 14. The process of claim 4 wherein R1, R2 and R3 of a first portion of said reagent compound are alkoxyl, and R1 and R2 of a second portion of said reagent compound are alkoxyl and R3 of said second portion is neither a hydroxyl nor alkoxyl.
 15. The process of claim 2 wherein subsequent to said further heating, said R1 is further chemically reacted.
 16. An improved chromatographic packing comprising a polyvalent metal-containing substrate and a stationary phase, said stationary phase comprising a polymer being sufficiently porous to allow penetration by a carrier fluid and the material contained therein, said polymer having the repeating unit of the formula
 17. The packing of claim 16 wherein said metal is silicon.
 18. The packing of claim 17 wherein A is -O-.
 19. The packing of claim 17 wherein A is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical.
 20. The packing of claim 17 wherein said stationary phase comprises at least two copolymerized portions.
 21. The packing of claim 20 wherein A in the first of said portions is -O-, and A in thhe second of said portions is a monovalent aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical.
 22. The packing of claim 16 wherein said substrate comprises silica gel or silica-containing particles.
 23. The packing of claim 22 wherein A is -O- and R is selected from the group consisting of gamma-glycidoxypropyl, beta-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyl, gamma-aminopropyl, N-beta-(aminoethyl-gamma-amino)-propyl, gamma-methacryloxypropyl, methyl, phenyl, amyl, 3-chloropropyl, and beta-cyanoethyl.
 24. The packing of claim 22 wherein A is methyl or phenyl and R is phenyl or beta-cyanoethyl.
 25. The packing of claim 16 wherein said stationary phase has an average thickness of about from 50 A* to 2,000 A*.
 26. The packing of claim 16 wherein said polymer comprises 25 to 65 percent of the volume of said stationary phase. 